PA13D:
Behind the Scenes on the Front Lines of Science Communication: How Institutions Can Support and Reward Scientists Who Do Public Engagement Work


Submit an Abstract to this Session


Session ID#: 50546

Session Description:
Communicating science and engaging with the public are increasingly important work for scientists, as we confront the challenges of sustainability, climate change, natural hazards, and a society that often seems disconnected from science. Yet many institutions that employ and educate geoscientists lack structures to support and reward quality and quantity of effort across engagement’s diverse forms. To maximize the effectiveness of geoscientists doing public engagement work, institutional change is necessary. Institutions that structurally support scientists’ engagement may provide example paths forward for other organizations and suggest incremental steps to achieve meaningful results. In this session, we invite research and case studies that advance our understanding of how institutions can evolve or transform to support and reward scientists who do public engagement work. Additionally, exemplary models of public engagement initiatives, including scalability of the programs to other institutions, are invited, and presentations from researchers studying the efficacy of institutional engagement efforts.
Primary Convener:  Anne Jefferson, Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, Burlington, United States
Conveners:  Tessa M Hill, University California Davis, Earth and Planetary Sciences and Bodega Marine Laboratory, Davis, CA, United States and Dr. Melissa A Kenney, PhD, University of Minnesota, Institute on the Environment, St. Paul, United States
Primary Liaison:  Anne Jefferson, Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, Burlington, United States
Chairs:  Tessa M Hill, University California Davis, Earth and Planetary Sciences and Bodega Marine Laboratory, Davis, CA, United States and Anne Jefferson, Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, Burlington, United States
OSPA Liaison:  Tessa M Hill, University California Davis, Earth and Planetary Sciences and Bodega Marine Laboratory, Davis, CA, United States
Index Terms:

0815 Informal education [EDUCATION]
6319 Institutions [POLICY SCIENCES]
6630 Workforce [PUBLIC ISSUES]
6699 General or miscellaneous [PUBLIC ISSUES]

Abstracts Submitted to this Session:

Supporting Engaged Geoscientists: How Universities Can Lead the Way (454974)
Dr. Melissa A Kenney, PhD, University of Minnesota, Institute on the Environment, St. Paul, United States, Anne Jefferson, Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, Burlington, United States, Tessa M Hill, University California Davis, Earth and Planetary Sciences and Bodega Marine Laboratory, Davis, CA, United States and Noelle E Selin, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Institute for Data, Systems, and Society; and Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Cambridge, MA, United States
Pathways to Diversity and Inclusion in the Geosciences: ASPIRE (Active Societal Participation in Research and Education) (Invited) (348326)
Corey Garza, University of Washington Seattle Campus, School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, Seattle, United States, Julia Parrish, University of Washington, Seattle, United States, Lora Harris, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, Solomons, MD, United States and Julie Posselt, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, United States
Promoting climate change outreach in an undergraduate atmospheric sciences program (369818)
Janel Hanrahan, Northern Vermont University, Lyndonville, United States and Jason Shafer, Northern Vermont University, Atmospheric Sciences, Lyndonville, United States
Theories of institutional change: Integrating feminist philosophy into engagement, communication training, and structural support (401304)
Sarah E Myhre, University of Washington Seattle, Seattle, WA, UNITED STATES
Collaborations with the Royal Society of Canada to Develop National-Scale Engagement Tools for Arctic Sustainability in Canada (433681)
Merritt R Turetsky, University of Guelph, Department of Integrative Biology, Guelph, ON, Canada
Scientific society support for scientists working to build institutional capacity for public engagement: Examples from the AAAS Leshner Leadership Institute (451141)
Emily Therese Cloyd, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Center for Public Engagement with Science & Technology, Washington, DC, United States

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